Disguised man robs Vegas casino of chips, escapes in taxi

A fake mustache was all it took to fool security at the Rio casino. Image: Flickr / ginnerrobot / CC-BY

Casino security, for the second time in as many months, has been foiled. Some are wondering if security always sits back and watches as a disguised man robs a Vegas casino. This robber apparently got away in a taxi cab with $35,000 in chips.

Rio gets hit: disguised man robs Vegas casino

The Rio casino on the Las Vegas strip is known for opulence. On Thursday night, a man wearing a fedora, sunglasses and fake mustache simply walked into the casino and grabbed chips off a table. The dealer watching the table tried to stop the robber, but the man showed a gun. The disguised robber then walked out the front door, got into a taxi and escaped the scene.

The simplest plan may have been the best

Much like the Bellagio robbery last month, this robbery appears to have included very little planning. The robber simply donned a dime-store disguise, walked in the front door, brandished a weapon, took the chips and walked out. There is no word on whether the cab driver got paid in casino chips, though it is possible. In the Bellagio robbery, it took less than a month to find the perpetrator.

Casino chips can be tracked

Casino chips are often stolen in amounts large and small. Casinos, however, have ways to protect themselves. High-value chips are often embedded with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, and casinos have been considering adding the tags to all chips. Casino chips also change over time — every few years, the casino has a “final redemtpion” period, after which the old-design chip is no longer worth face value. That means anyone who steals a large quantity of chips has to sell them online, try to redeem them in the casino or find some other way to turn the chips back into actual cash.